Susan Melrath has been inspired by the garden since she was a young girl growing up in Oxford, Chester County.

Her mother was a floral designer, and the smell of green on her hands at the end of the day is still fresh in Melrath’s mind. There were always clippers in the family car’s glovebox and a bucket of water with fresh cuttings on the back porch.

Melrath’s family would take country drives in search of new material, and the artist said she couldn’t count all the times her mother slammed on the brakes for some bright orange bittersweet, lush evergreens, or Queen Anne’s lace.

“Her passion for beauty in nature was contagious,” Melrath said of her mother. “As I learned to paint, floral themes were often present in my work. Early watercolors included daffodil, hibiscus and peony blooms. However, as my knowledge of

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art blossomed and my skills became more refined, I strayed from the representational path and yearned

for a more authentic, unique approach to this subject matter.

“I stumbled around in the dark for a while experimenting with new materials, trying new techniques, but it was technology that finally lit the way for my journey,” Melrath continued. “One spring, as bulbs were emerging and blossoms blooming, I discovered a finger painting application on my iPhone. The paint strokes in the ‘Brushes’ app looked real and the colors were sophisticated. I played with abandon. I could layer colors and patterns and explore new combinations, all on my little 4-inch screen.”

Melrath’s work will be on display through Friday, March 28 at Bluestone Fine Art Gallery, 142 N. Second St., Philadelphia, in an exhibition titled “Full Bloom.”

An artist’s reception will be held 5-9 p.m. this Friday at Bluestone Fine Art Gallery, and a Mimosas and Meet the Artist will be 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Satturday. Bluestone Fine Art Gallery’s hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, and noon-4 p.m. Saturday.

Melrath’s body of work is meant to capture the sense of wonder and joy experienced in nature. Built around the architecture of flora, Melrath’s paintings are a celebration of life, growth, and the rhythm of the seasons. Each painting grows through a process of arranging colors, shapes and textures. Those elements become metaphors for the complex relationships in life.

In “Full Bloom,” she offers visitors to the show her memories, observations, and enchantment with everything that grows.

Melrath’s work has evolved over an art career spanning 30 years, with its roots in illustration. Figurative and abstract work is her passion. Matisse, Gauguin, and Bonnard are a few of the artists who have inspired her with their powerful use of color, intentional distortion and unique compositions. Her work explores color, pattern and shape and how their relationships reflect a mood or express an idea.

Born in 1959, she was encouraged by dedicated art teachers in grade school, and she decided to pursue a career in art. Her dream was to be a freelance illustrator, and she attended a four-year commercial art school. Upon graduation she set out on her own, and before long her, clients included IBM, Miami Herald, Simon & Schuster, JC Penney, Time Life Books and Reader’s Digest.

In 1997, Melrath moved to Seattle with her husband and took a sabbatical from commercial work to raise her son. The luxury of this time at home proved rich with artistic discoveries. The freedom to play and explore allowed her work to develop in unique ways.

With no client or deadline, her focus shifted from content to shape, form and color. Her work began winning awards in juried exhibitions in 2003. In the spring of 2010 she held her first Seattle solo show. Her works are part of many private collections as well as the Swedish Public Art Collection in Seattle, Group Health of Tacoma and the Heathman Hotel Collection in Kirkland, Wash.

For more information about Melrath, email her at sumelrath@gmail.com or visit www.susanmelrath.com.

For more about Bluestone Fine Art Gallery, call 856-979-7588 or visit www.bluestone-gallery.com